Oketsu
by Lady Illusion
Summary: Inuyasha just learned he has a larger family than he thought;Sesshoumaru learns a part of his father's past he never imagined;and Naraku learns that even when you can't remember your past,it chases you down.And all three must forget their differences.


A/N: ((READ THIS OR SUFFER))

Ok, a few things. Disclaimer: We own no Inuyasha characters.

Oketsu: impure blood

That's what my sources say. But my sources are purely what I can get online, so I'm not sure. It has something to do with blood -;;

And about **NARAKU**! Okay, when you read this and start to think OOC, don't. I mean, c'mon. It's _Naraku_!

Also! If you're a fan of the original pairings….you might not want to read…..

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Oketsu by: Lady Illusion and Lady Clueless Auroreia

Prologue _Twenty-nine months after Lady Kikyo's death_

She was tired. Tired and hungry. Tired, hungry _and_ cold. And her head hurt. She was rather lonely, too. She'd never felt this lonely before, it felt so strange. Like instead of a heart in the center of her chest there was a gaping hole; a hole so large that people could see straight through her.

The silver haired demon youngling waded through undergrowth and thorny bushes before collapsing to her knees. Putting both hands firm on the ground in front of her she curled over into a ball and tried to take control of her jagged, gasping breathing, of her racing heart. When she was relatively clamed she opened her eyes and raised her head to gaze at the sky. Strings of sadness pulled at her heart and made it dance bitterly in her chest as a puppet master might.

She felt like weeping; but she'd cried so much already, she didn't expect she had any tears left in her.

She wanted a do-over. Another chance. _Anything_ that could have changed the outcome of what had happened. But he'd told her to run. He'd turned his head and looked her right in the eye and screamed for her to flee. So she had, and now she was lost and alone.

All alone, and she had no idea of what she should do now.

Thinking about it she felt herself begin to cry. _What do you know_, she thought bitterly_, I _can_ still cry_.__

She rubbed her nose and sniffled. Despite the lonely, lost, empty feeling pulsing through her veins she begged whatever gods still had pity on her to let her be alone. Even at her young age, if anyone caught a demon crying, she'd never live it down. Somehow, word would get around that she was weak, that she had feelings demons shouldn't have and she'd become even more of an outcast than she already was.

That would just be the icing on the cake, wouldn't it?

It didn't really matter how much the demon child prayed to deaf eared gods, or how much she hoped, it didn't change the fact that a man in a white baboon fur cloak was kneeling behind her in the brush she'd stumbled through moments before. For a few minutes he sat there, studying the way the terrible emotion sorrow had changed her movements from what they had been days earlier. How just looking at her seemed more tiring now, when she wept than it had been when the child had laughed.

Often he watched people like this, and had he not need to speak to her he would have been content to let the girl wallow helplessly in a feeling she could not deal with on her own.

Fully aware she'd be able to hear him (this was after all what he wanted), he softly murmured, "Poor little lost youngling. All alone in the world."

The girl looked up and whipped away her tears. She stood and turned all about, the man realized she hadn't pin pointed where his voice had come from, "W-who are you?"

The man inched forward, making sure to make enough noise for her to notice him. His actions received the desired effect and she turned her violet eyes on him, "Just one concerned for an orphaned girl."

"I don't need your concern," the girl responded stubbornly, "I can take care of myself, thank-you-very-much."

"Please," the man scoffed, "Don't; even try to fool me. You couldn't even look after your pet goldfish."

She stared at the deep black gourds where the eyes of the man where shadowed, "How do you know-"

"You didn't look out for your family either. That's why Daddy's dead, dearest."

"T-that's not true!" she protested. She gripped her head and shook it violently, becoming slightly disoriented and stumbling back to the ground, "It's not!"

"It is. You know it is." He knew she felt this way. "If you'd been looking out for the welfare of your family you would have trained. You would have found some way to have helped your father when you smelt the demon scent coming toward your precious valley."

__

Who was this man? What did he want? How could he possibly know about her or her father? The man knew all the questions that must be rushing through her head. The nature of people, both human and demon, he found it was an easy thing to predict. She shut her eyes tight and tried to block out his voice.

"Oh, but don't worry, little one," the man's moved closer to her, "I could help you," he gently placed and arm around her bruised shoulders, as a parent might, "Could train you, take care of you."

"And what exactly do you want in return?"

"Pardon?"

She looked up into the black eye holes of the cloak, "I'm young, not stupid. There's no such thing as charity. Not really."

"Clever," he chuckled, "especially for one who's lived as sheltered a life as yourself. I suppose it is the cunning of your fox heritage. Or mayhap it is the cat half? Cat _is_ the other half of your heritage, is it not?" When her brows shot up and she struggled to back away from the man he added, "Yes. I thought so."

"How could you know that?" the girl demanded, he saw in her eyes that her distrust of him was growing every second, "How could you know anything about me?"

"That is irrelevant at this point." Before she could respond he continued, "As for my price…well, I want your word –on your father's grave- to serve me for the rest of your life."

"The rest of my…" she trailed, falling back on her rump, eyes distant.

"Yes. If I help you, you, in turn, must swear you loyalty to me."

"But," she swallowed, "why?"

"Good, trustworthy help is so hard to come by nowadays," the man thought of memories of betrayal, though it was distorted and blurred. Thought of how much it had hurt when… when…

When what?

She raised a silvery white brow, "What makes you think so?"

"My reasons are my own," swiftly the man stood, displeased that his memory of this traitor was fading from his mind. "I have seen this world, Unica. It is not a friendly place to be, certainly not alone. My offer stands." A hand parted from the cloak and was offered to the sitting, silver haired demon child, "Do we have a deal?"

The cat-fox shifted and began to reach for his hand, and then paused and recoiled, "Hold on. How do you know my name?"

"I just do."

He saw the suspicion, that she was not quite ready to trust him, despite his generous offer. Very, very generous offer. Especially to a hybrid such as herself. And she had every reason to be suspicious, after the life she'd lived.

"You know my name. Are you going to tell me yours? Or do I have to call you creepy-monkey-cape-man?"

A low, dark chuckle, "My name is Naraku."

"Naraku, you promise to train, protect and take care of me in exchange for my loyalty?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"Yes. I promise."

Unica nodded slowly and eyed the cloaked figure.

"Alright then. Deal." Unica reached out and took Naraku's hand.

To be continued in Chapter One!

Lady Illusion: YAY!!! I _Finally_ got it up! Dance o' joy!!! R/R pleeease!!!

P.S. We get to see Lady Clueless's character in the next chappie!


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